Chapter 37 Twelfth Scene

An incredible journey... History, like an old dog that can't learn new tricks, loops back: the same train, the same dark midnight, the same hour, the same sound of wheels rolling over the tracks. At 12:18 midnight, Wren and a group of police officers returned to this journey. The train ran between Weehawken Station at the starting point and Newcastle Station at the end. Mr. Jerry Wren sat quietly on the side of the train. In the back section of the carriage, and this carriage; apart from Sam, Bruno and a few criminal policemen, there were almost no other passengers. Ryan was wrapped in a long coat, and a low, wide-brimmed felt hat covered his whole face. He sat in the window seat, turned his head to the window glass, and didn't speak, as if he was falling asleep or falling into a trap. Contemplation; Bruno sitting across from him and Sam sitting next to him also didn't say a word, but the two seemed quite nervous.And this tense breath seems to have infected the criminal policemen who were sitting scattered nearby, few words came out, everyone sat still like a gun, everyone waited quietly, waited An action that they have no clue about, only knows that the key is extremely important.

Sam couldn't calm down at all, he glanced at Ren's covered lids, sighed, stood up again, and walked out of the carriage with heavy steps, but in the blink of an eye, he rushed back flushed with excitement.He sat down, leaned forward and whispered next to Bruno, "It's really strange...there are Ahan and Impoli in the previous car, do you want to tell Ren?" Bruno turned his head to look at Ren, and shrugged, "I think we'll let him direct everything. The old man seems to have a plan in mind." The train wobbled to a stop, and Bruno looked out the window.They had reached—he saw clearly—North Bergen Station; Sam looked at his watch—it was exactly twelve twenty.Under the dim lights of the station, a few passengers could be seen getting on the train. The signal lantern on the platform flicked, the doors slammed shut, and the car moved forward again.

A few minutes later, the conductor appeared in the front carriage and came all the way to check the tickets.When he came to this carriage, he recognized Sam at a glance and smiled kindly as a greeting. Sam nodded coldly and took out banknotes to help everyone make up the tickets; the conductor took out several car tickets from the breast pocket of his coat The two tickets paid in cash were skillfully folded, punched in two places, torn in half, handed one to Sam, and put the other in his other pocket... Ren, who didn't know whether he was asleep or in deep thought, made a move at this urgent moment.He stood up, took off his felt hat and coat, and turned to face the conductor, who blinked and stayed on the spot.Ren reached into the muffler of his duffel coat, took out a silver glasses case, opened it, and held the glasses in his hand. He didn't put them on, but just stared at the conductor seriously with thought and curiosity.The face—thick, slack, and wine-colored—seemed to have taken the conductor by surprise.

The conductor's reaction was very strange. He was still holding his ticket clip, but he was suspended in mid-air like a frame. The whole person seemed to be sucked in and involuntarily looked carefully at the person standing coldly in front of him.At first, he couldn't believe it, but immediately changed to a look of extreme fear, his mouth opened silently, his tall and strong body began to tremble, and his face that was originally as red as a grape turned pale instantly.For a long time, a hoarse voice came out from the depths of his open mouth, a name, "Lonstraee..." And just as the conductor was paralyzed and stood still like a stone pillar, the lips of Harry Lonstraee in disguise, Bending into a smile, he threw away the silver spectacle case and glasses in his hand, reached into his pocket again without hesitation, and took out a heavy metal object... Then, he strode forward with a crisp slap There was a sound, and the conductor's dull eyes involuntarily moved from Longstreet's smiling face to his hands, looking at the handcuffs on his wrists like a nightmare.

Ren's smiling face appeared again, but this time it was facing the silly faces of Bruno and Sam who were still sitting in the chair and had no idea what had happened.The two held their breaths in silence from beginning to end, unable to move even if they wanted to watch this wonderful one-man show directed and acted by Ren. conductor.At this moment, the train conductor shrank back, licking his mouth with Ko's tongue, leaning against the back of the seat—desperate, ashamed, still full of unbelievable eyes, and the handcuffs on his wrists . Ren calmly said to Sam: "Inspector, I wonder if you brought the ink pad I want?"

Sam didn't answer, but obediently took out a box of tightly-covered ink pads and a square of white paper from his pocket. "Inspector, please remove this person's fingerprints." Sam was still sleepwalking in a daze, stood up with some difficulty, and walked forward... The conductor was still standing beside Ren in a state of exhaustion, leaning his whole body on the back of the chair.When Sam pressed his unconscious hand on the inkpad.Wren turned back to his seat, and from the pocket of the long coat he had taken off, he took out a Luzon paper envelope, which he had only received this Monday.Ren took out the fingerprint photos sent by Uruguay, and looked at the two wooden chickens with a smile.

"Ready, Inspector." Sam handed the wet conductor's fingerprints to Ren, and Ren put the two fingerprints side by side, stretching his neck to carefully compare the threads on the paper.In the end, he returned the conductor's fingerprints to Sam, along with the copy provided by the Uruguayan government. "Inspector, come and compare. I think you have checked thousands of fingerprints. You are undoubtedly an expert in this area." Sam compared carefully, "From my point of view, these two fingerprints seem to be identical." "Of course, from the same person."

Bruno didn't stand up until now, "Mr. Lane, who is this—what—" Ryan held the conductor's arm tenderly, "Prosecutor Bruno, Inspector Sam, please let me introduce one of God's most unfortunate people, Mr. Martin Stoop—" "But--" "Also," continued Wren, "West Coast Line conductor Edward Thompson—" "but--" "Also a passenger on the Mohawk Waver—" "I have no idea--" "More so," Ryan concluded softly, "Charles Wood, conductor." "Charles Wood!" Sam and Bruno sniffed out at the same time, turning to look at the suspect who flinched aside.Bruno murmured, "But Charles Wood is dead!"

"Dead to you, Mr. Bruno; dead to you, Inspector Sam; but personally to me," said Jerry Lane, "he lived all through."